George Cables

A bebop pianist respected as an integral part of the American jazz scene since the late 1960s, George Cables played with greats like Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins and Max Roach and released over 30 albums of his own. First taught to play the piano by his mother as a child, Cables studied classical music at Mannes College but discovered jazz through Thelonious Monk and spent his late teens in bars watching the likes of Mose Allison and Charlie Mingus perform. His first band was called The Jazz Samaritans, but after touring with Sonny Rollins he started recording in Los Angeles as a sideman for Joe Henderson and Freddie Hubbard and led a trio on his debut album 'Why Not?' in 1975.

Known for his versatility and fluent, melodic style, Cables had long, successful spells playing traditional hard-bop with saxophonist Dexter Gordon, as well as cool, suave West Coast jazz with Art Pepper and a free-form fusion style with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson. But it was his 1979 album 'Cables Vision' that first showed he could move beyond the tag of the ultimate sideman. As the modern jazz scene evolved in the 1980s and '90s, Cables became a more appreciated figure thanks to albums like 'By George' and 'Skylark' and his friendship with Art Pepper flourished as they performed as a duo on 'Goin' Home' and 'Tete-a-Tete'. He continued to work despite having liver and kidney transplants and being on dialysis, and after the death of his wife Helen from pancreatic cancer, he recorded 'My Muse' in 2012 in her honour. Later in his career he played regularly in a trio with double bassist Essiet Essiet and drummer Victor Lewis and released the career retrospective 'The George Cables Songbook' in 2016.